


Lost and Insecure, You Found Me

by ACatwithManyFandoms



Series: Sand and Motor Oil [4]
Category: America's Suitehearts - Fall Out Boy (Music Video), Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24741919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatwithManyFandoms/pseuds/ACatwithManyFandoms
Summary: Rewrite of Strange, But So Familiar. I just got bored and rewrote this and Letters, the third, or I guess the fourth part is finally getting written. This is fucking sad because Letters was my first fic and I'm only just getting to it. Also, I added Neon Secret to this just because it fits kinda well.ANYWAY! Kobra Kid doesn't remember Mr. Sandman, but Sandman certainly remembers him.
Relationships: Kobra Kid/Mr. Sandman (Fall Out Boy)
Series: Sand and Motor Oil [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549465
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Lost and Insecure, You Found Me

**Author's Note:**

> I'll probably post the rewrite of Letters sometime next week. Hope you enjoy this tho, surprisingly, it didn't need that many revisions compared to Letter.

Kobra Kid, one of the Fabulous Four, the brother of Party Poison, and the best motorbaby in the desert rolled his bike into the shadows between two of the buildings of the outlet mall beside the Crash Track. 

He removed his helmet and slumped against the wall, it hadn’t been a particularly great race, too easy for his liking. His hands were still shaking, though not because of the adrenaline.

No, he loved racing; it was his escape, but he hated stopping. When he stopped the dark thoughts came back, the ones that made him afraid of himself.

His breathing became fast, fear was settling in, fear of himself. Witch knew sometimes he hated being himself. For once he wanted a clear head.

Hot tears started to roll down his cheeks. The heat of the day was on his side, from a distance it probably looked like he was sweating. Though, the shaking of his hands probably wouldn’t help his disguise.

Most days he could at least make it home before the scary thoughts caught up with him, at home, he could distract himself. Unfortunately, today was not like most days. 

Party Poison could make the bad thoughts disappear, they knew how to help. 

Poison couldn’t help now, they were pissed at him. The entire crew had been running on high since they had come to the rescue of a little girl. 

She was probably two, maybe three years old, she looked a lot like Jet Star, tan skin, a mass of curls surrounding a friendly face. She was an angel, an angel that liked to spend the latest hours of the night screaming. She seemed to get frequent nightmares, sort of like Kobra. 

There was an argument between him and Poison, and then Jet Star got involved. The argument pushed them over the edge, it quickly turned into a screaming match.

Poison and him both shared some cruel words, neither of them meant them, but that didn’t make them sting any less. Then Jet decided to intervene, normally he knew to stay out of their sibling spats, but this time he was tired of their shit.

Kobra Kid, being the chaotic, stupid asshole he was, yelled at Jet Star too. He stopped himself from lunging at Poison and instead stormed out and rode to the Crash Track. 

He’d been staying at the Cherri Cola’s for the past four days.

Kobra had dragged himself to the Crash Track every morning, raced all day, and then had a panic attack in the alley, away from the crowds. The stars were starting to show in the dark edges of the sunset.

He kept trying to focus on himself, he kept trying to push down all the bad feelings. Guilt and fear were so fucking hard to manage, somebody was walking towards him. 

His ears were hyper-alert, he knew when to force himself to look like he wasn’t just crying.

"Hey, you're Kobra Kid, right?" Delightful, someone to witness his breakdown. Thank the Witch it was getting dark. 

He looked up. The voice was strange but familiar. It was the guy who had almost beat him in a few races, what was his name? He seemed imposing, standing over Kobra’s crying form, in actuality he was pretty short.

Kobra nodded his response and tried not to focus on how pathetic he must look. "Oh, I just wanted to congratulate you on that last race." He knew this guy. This was Mr. Sandman. One of the Suitehearts. He'd only met him once before, at a party after one of the races. He vaguely remembered him, he'd never forgotten his eyes.

"Thanks," He mumbled. "You're pretty good yourself." 

“Are you okay? You normally just disappear after the races. I've never got to congratulate you before."

"Yeah, 'm fine." He was far from fine.

"No offense but you don't look 'fine'," Sandman said. He squatted down next to him. He put his hand on Kobra’s shaking shoulder, Kobra froze. 

" _ Thanks _ , I'm good. Just a little tired." Tired was an understatement, try “hasn't slept in three days”. His hair was a mess, there were dark circles under his eyes, he could barely keep his head up.

"Okay, cut the crap." Mr. Sandman was suddenly a lot less gentle. "I have eyes, you're not fine. I know something's wrong. Sure, you don't want to tell me, we've talked like twice, but I'm not gonna let you sit here and drown yourself in pity." His face shifted. It didn't seem as forceful as his words. He genuinely didn't want Kobra to be sad alone.

The shock of being snapped at fading quick, he considered his current situation. He was sitting in the sand next to an attractive almost-stranger, who cared about his well-being despite barely knowing him, while he wallowed in self-pity. Can’t get any worse.

“I don’t think you really want to know,” Kobra grumbled, like an asshole.

“Try me, asshole.” So he noticed. Sandman smiled gently.

He glanced nervously at Sandman, what the hell. "Party's pissed. Jet won't talk to me. Ghoul's busy with The Girl, I've been staying at Cherri's, I can't sleep. I'm only good at racing and that seems to just push people out of my life." He blurted. Destroya, he didn’t mean to say all that. He was like a sinking ship, the minute he plugged one hole three more opened up.

“Oh.” Sandman sat down in the sand next to him. “Keep goin.” He murmured. 

Mr. Sandman just let him rant, not interrupting to give his thoughts, he just listened and nodded if Kobra asked. Finally, Kobra stopped, he ran out of steam. He was going on too little sleep and patience.

When he stopped, it was like when the races stopped. Nothing was good anymore. His walls fell. Sandman made sure Kobra was done, he gently laid his hand on Kobra’s shoulder again, though it was pretty obvious he was done by the way he was shaking.

"Just let them cool off. I get it. Sometimes Dr. Benzedrine will just go off the rails with some plan and he eventually crashes. We all crash at some point." He mumbled softly.

Mr. Sandman seemed familiar, just the way he talked. It was like they'd known each other for years. He wasn’t a complete stranger, but Kobra couldn’t recall much from their past interaction.

"Seems like I’m always crashin’." He murmured into Sandman's jacket. It was sort of embarrassing, leaning into a stranger's comfort.

"I know." He was just so fucking familiar. "You wanna, uh, go inside? It'll be warmer there.” Kobra hadn't realized how late it was. Yes, he'd been at the track all day, but the sun was setting now.

"Sure." The heat of the day had drained from his body, the shivering adding to his shakiness. Why was he going anywhere with Mr. Sandman? 

He shivered against Mr. Sandman. Not keeping himself together very well. He wanted to cry, just sit and cry. Let out all the pain and sorrow, but he couldn't. Not with Sandman here, though he did just sort of spill his deepest fears and regrets into the guy.

They sat in the dilapidated building, in the corner, away from the others. Kobra could feel the tears run down his face, but he wouldn't acknowledge it.

Mr. Sandman was gentle. As if he really meant it when he told him to just tell him everything, but he hadn't meant the tone. Still, Kobra Kid couldn't figure out where else he'd seen Sandman. The party was his only memory, it was infuriating.

He was definitely concerned, but in a way, Kobra had only seen in Party Poison. "It's like I've met you before, but I've lost all memory of it." He started.

Mr. Sandman looked up hopefully. "Believe me, we have."

"I just can't figure out when," He wiped at the tears on his face, hoping Sandman hadn’t noticed. "Do you know?" He asked curiously.

"Yes." Mr. Sandman looked nervous. "There was a party after a race about a month ago." He started.

Kobra nodded for him to continue. "We, uh got drinks, and Party Poison came to get you when you didn't come home, and-" He stopped. 

"What?" Kobra asked. "Did something bad happen?" Fuck, did he do something shitty while he was drunk? He was always a shithead when he was drunk.

"Not exactly, but you were pretty wasted." He swallowed. "You, um... er... kissed me?" It sounded more like a question. "But less like a kiss more like we made out." 

His face was hot with embarrassment. "I did- Oh, god, I’m so sorry..." He tried to stand, fuck way too fast. His vision grew blurry around the edges. He stumbled a little before regaining his balance for a moment. 

That was it. He'd already screwed up at home and now he finds out he got so drunk he made out with the cute guy who was just trying to help him.

His ears were ringing. Mr. Sandman said something he couldn't understand. “I gotta go, sorry…” He murmured, his legs felt as if they weren’t there.

-

Mr. Sandman had, on a whim, decided to confront Kobra Kid who was crying in the shadows. He'd found out his life was about as miserable as his own. Then he decided to tell him out their drunken make-out session, which Kobra completely forgot about. Now, that same boy was lying on the ground, unconscious in front of him.

"Kobra!" He yelled. He shook him. He remembered the terrible noise his body had made when it hit the floor. “Kobra?!” He shouted frantically. What happened? He stood up, stumbled, and fell. His mind went into mission mode. He had a vague idea of what to do. Get him out of the building, into the truck, take him somewhere safe. Not that the Crash Track wasn’t safe, he’d just rather not stay in the dark surrounded by drunk motorbabies with an unconscious member of the Fabulous Four.

He lifted him from under his arms. "Okay, let's get you up." He had a feeling this wasn't supposed to happen when you say something personal like that. Gently, he carried him out of the building and into the cool night. Dammit, it was hard to move somebody at least six inches taller than you.

Unlike Kobra Kid, he drove a truck to the races. He had already loaded his bike and there was enough space in the bed for Kobra's too. Gently, he placed him on his back across the back seat, his legs hung at an awkward angle due to his height. 

He loaded Kobra’s bike and dropped the helmet beside him behind the driver’s seat.

Kobra didn't want to go home, he knew that he was fighting with Party Poison. He had been staying with Cherri Cola, despite being friends with him, Mr. Sandman had no idea where that was.

"I'm gonna take you to the Suitehearts place. I know the other guys won't mind.” He said to the unconscious body in the back seat. _ This entire situation screams bad idea. _

He pulled up to the house. It was the most stable of eight others on the cul-de-sac. It was an old neighborhood somewhere at the edge of zone 4, a lot of the buildings were still intact. He parked and hoisted Kobra out of the back. Holding him up by his arms. It was difficult to move someone taller than him, but at least he was light. Fuck, he was thin.

He went in through the garage door because it was closer to his room. The house was nice enough. Some of the walls had paintings on them, others were graffitied.

He slowly laid Kobra down before sitting next to him on the bed. The room must've been a child's, due to the toy cars, animated movie posters, and twin size bed, still in it. All Sandman had done was add his belongings to the mess.

He heard the stairs creak as someone stomped down them. His heart jumped. He had practically kidnapped this guy, what were the others going to say? He walked out of his room hastily before bumping into Horseshoe Crab.  _ What to say? How to explain it? _

"Hey, Sandy! I didn’t expect to see you home this early. Thought you were going to get some food."

_ Dammit. _ "I forgot, sorry." He winced. That wasn't good.

"Naw, it's fine. We aren't low, just good to stock up." He was oblivious to the stranger in the room behind him. "Oh, by the way, do you still have that big bucket of green paint? Donnie was looking for it."

"Yeah, it's under my bed." He sighed. He realized his mistake the second it left his mouth.

"Great." He turned to enter the room, but before Sandman could stop him, he pushed the door open.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" He shouted.

"Wait! Shhh! I can explain!" He whisper-yelled.

"Why is Kobra Kid in your bed?" He snapped, quieter.

"He was freaking out at the Crash Track, and then he passed out. So I brought him here. I couldn't take him home, that’s why he’s been at the track in the first place." He explained.

Horseshoe didn't seem pleased, instead, he asked. "How long since he passed out?"

"'Bout an hour." He said nervously. "Should Benzie look at him?"

"Probably."

"He's upstairs. I'll get him." He sighed. Benzedrine was never a fan of guests, especially the Fab Four. Benzedrine strode down the stairs in the exaggerated fashion he always did before smiling at Sandman.

"Sandman brought home a stranger and now he's asleep in his bed! How interesting!" Benzedrine forced a laugh.

Mr. Sandman felt the blush rising in his cheeks. "Just look at him."

He did. Benzie wasn't a people doctor, as he liked to call them, he was a chemical doctor or an inventor. He just coincidentally knew the most about doctoring.

"Seems fine right now, ‘sept he’s pale. Tell me when he wakes up. I've got some questions.” He looked back at Kobra. “Isn't he the guy that made out with you and never acknowledged it?"

"Yeah." The blush darkened.

"So he's not a stranger," Benze smirked and left the room.

Mr. Sandman plopped down in the bean bag chair next to the bed and closed his eyes.  _ Might as well get some sleep. _

-

Party Poison sat cross-legged on the couch beside Fun Ghoul who was cooing at the baby Girl.

"You heard anything about Kobra?" He said quietly.

"No, not since the call from Cherri."

About an hour ago Cherri Cola had radioed, Kobra had disappeared along with his bike. Kobra didn’t like staying out late, he should’ve gone back to Cola’s.

Since they had finally cooled down, they had been looking for Kobra Kid, they needed to apologize. "What if he got caught? What if he's hurt?" 

“I’m sure he’s fine, he’s probably just pissed still.” Ghoul hummed, “He’ll get over it.”

“I was a real jackass this time, I mean he wasn’t exactly pleasant, but I really lost it.” They groaned, dragging a hand through their firetruck red hair.

“Pois, Kobra’s gonna turn up, he’s your brother, you guys are besties.” He smiled when the Girl pointed at his tattoo and giggled some gibberish. “Yes, oh yes, isn’t that so?” He giggled back.

“I gotta go.” They jumped up and headed for the door fumbling for the keys to the Trans Am.

Ghoul looked up, confused when he heard the diner’s door slam shut.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Jet shouted as they started the car.

"Lookin' for Kobes!" They yelled back.

-

Kobra was aware of something cushioned under him, and the soft snoring beside him. Maybe the past four days had been a dream, maybe he was sleeping next to Poison and the whole thing was nonexistent.

He opened an eye. No, it was real. He was in a small bed, somewhere unknown. Mr. Sandman was dozing next to him in a beanbag chair. His head ached when he moved and his body was stiff. The room was very dark, the only light was from the faint moonbeams that entered through the partially boarded up window.

"Where am I?" He wondered aloud. He sat up, his head throbbing, and looked around. "Mr. Sandman?" He groaned, his voice still slightly hoarse from sleep.

Mr. Sandman woke and blinked, eyes adjusting to the dark. “How’re you feeling Kobra?” He asked gently, still half asleep. Kobra scanned the room, thoroughly confused, and a little freaked out. “Welcome to my bedroom, I guess." He smiled weakly. This was even more concerning.

"Why am I here? What happened?" He asked, glaring at the dark figure in the even darker room.

"You passed out at the Crash Track.” Sandman swallowed hard, despite the dark Kobra could tell he was nervous. “You were freaking out about going home so I brought you here. Sorry, but you were unconscious and it was getting late."

"Oh." Well, that was better than being left unconscious at the Crash Track in the middle of the night.

"One second, Benze’s gonna figure out why you fainted." He jogged out of the room, Kobra squinted at the bright light that flooded through the open door.  _ Great, another stranger to talk to. _ He returned a few minutes later with a strawberry blonde-haired man wearing all yellow.

"Kobra Kid? Welcome to our humble abode." He grumbled, lips pursed into a thin line, obviously upset somebody new was in his house. "I have a few questions. What have you eaten today?" Benzedrine started with a very professional “let’s get this over with” tone.

"Uh, can of Power Pup, and a Red Bull," Kobra grunted, sitting up slowly. Well, fuck, no wonder he passed out. He sat straighter and pulled his knees to his chest. Kobra still felt faint, his head was still a little heavy. “Fuck, it’s really cold in here.”

"Why do you think you passed out?"

"I stood up too fast." He sighed.

"You’re probably hypoglycemic, or some other nutrient-related thing." With that, he left.  _ He was straight to the point. _

"Did you pick up my bike? I know if you didn't Cherri would have found it, but did you?" He asked nervously. That bike was his escape from his thoughts.

"Yeah, it's in the back of the truck with mine." He looked a little concerned, mixed with guilt.  _ What did he do? _

"What's wrong?" Kobra asked quietly.

"I felt really bad after, um, you dropped dead in front of me. I thought it was my fault or something." He said gently, Kobra could see how that would be startling. "I know it sounds crazy but I really-" 

Benzedrine walked in with a can of Power Pup and a soda. "Here, eat. I don't want the rest of the Fab Four pounding on our door trying to get you back. Just get stronger quickly." He gratefully took the food. He couldn’t see why the Suitehearts bothered Party Poison so much.

"Sorry. Anyway, what were you saying?" Kobra asked, mouth half full.

-

He wanted to tell Kobra that the real reason he confronted him was the alley at the Crash Track. He’d been looking for him since the party, trying to admit that after that one night he’d sort of developed a giant crush on him. It hasn't been going well so far. He opened his mouth to finish his sentence but the words didn't come out. He shut his mouth.

"Nothing." He managed to sigh without looking too pissed at Benze. 

“Oh, okay,” Kobra said, completely unaware of his feelings.

-

Party Poison drove for an hour, made it to the Crash Track. It was probably past midnight and it was freezing. They walked around with a heavy sweatshirt pulled over their signature jacket.

They checked all over, there was no sign of Kobra or his bike.

They drove again to Cherri Cola's where Kobra had apparently been staying for the past three days. No sign of him.

They checked the radio station, Tommy Chow Mein's, the Nest, the Mailbox, every place they could think of Kobra might go. 

Finally, the music ended over the radio and Dr. D's voice crackled through.  _ Good, get the message out there _ . They’d delivered a message while they were at the radio station.

" _ Hey Crash Queens, it's me, Dr. Death Defying. I have a special message from our red-haired revolution leader themself, Party Poison. They want anybody, and we mean anybody who has seen Kobra Kid in the past six hours to call in and tell us. Stay safe tumbleweeds, and keep running. _ " The transmission ended.

At least the message was out there.

-

Mr. Sandman heard the transmission too. 

“We should probably radio in.” Sandman sighed.

“Do we really want the Fab Four here?” Donnie grumbled. 

“It’s not the whole crew, just Party Poison.” He said. “And we’re not just gonna keep Kobra here forever.”

“We could, and maybe you could two you could talk about your feelings.” They smirked.

Sandman’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Out of line, Mx.” He scoffed, dramatically power-walking away from the table and back into his bedroom where Kobra was asleep again. 

At least he’d be getting sleep now. Sandman felt an almost overwhelming sense of guilt when he had to shake him awake. 

"Hey Kobra, there was a transmission. Party Poison's looking for you.”

“What’d they want?” He grumbled, rolling to face him, he still looked like shit, but a little less exhausted.

“Probably to come and pick you up.”

“Can I borrow your radio?”

“Sure.” Sandman passed him the radio and sat patiently beside Kobra on the mattress. 

He fumbled with the dial and then held the call button, “Poison?”

“Who is that?”

“Kobra.”

“Where the hell are you!” They shouted through the speaker, Sandman winced at their volume.

“I'm at the Suitehearts." He sighed. "Where's that?" He mouthed at Sandman.

"Edge of zone 4." He whispered back.

"Edge of zone 4," Kobra repeated to Party.

"Okay, I’m coming to get you. I’m really fuckin’ sorry, don’t disappear like that again!”

"It's okay." Lying through his teeth again. "I'm sorry too." That was genuine.

"It'll be like three hours. I'm pretty far out in Zone 6. Why're you at the Suitehearts?"

"Uh, I fainted at the Crash Track. Mr. Sandman was there." He winced again. Party Poison would skin him for taking Kobra somewhere while he was unconscious.

"Wait! What?!" They shouted.

"Bye!" Kobra said, quickly turning the radio off. “Not gonna deal with that shit right now.”

He glanced out the window. It was dark, he could see the stars shining in the cloudless sky.

"It's pretty late, like two or three a.m, but I’ve got a good way to waste time." He started. Another plan.  _ Get it over with, let him reject you now. _

"What?" Kobra said curiously, he still sounded groggy from sleep.

"Stargazing." He suggested quietly. 

Kobra’s face lit up. “Sure!”

Kobra followed him up the stairs, there was a caved in part of the roof in the attic where they had an amazing view of the sky. There was already a mound of blankets under the semi-stable part of the roof, and Sandman pulled a few out and laid them down.

"It's pretty. Poison does this all the time." Kobra whispered. 

The night air was freezing and despite their little nest of blankets, Sandman could still feel the chill through his jacket. He draped another blanket around Kobra and his shoulders.

Kobra was  _ smiling _ , really smiling. Sandman had never seen the usually stoic motorbaby really smile. He'd stopped shaking and his color had returned.

Kobra sat with his legs crossed, leaning against Sandman for warmth. They sat like that for a few minutes before Sandman spoke up.

"About before, when Benze interrupted." He took a breath.  _ I’m really doing this, huh. _ "Ever since the party, I've been trying to find you. Meet you sober. See if you remembered that night. You clearly don't, but I do. You asked me to dance with you, you wanted to have fun. It was after the final race for the big competition. You were celebrating. I was just there because I had nothing better to do. You made the night special when you kissed me and I can't forget it." He stopped and looked at Kobra.

His gaze had traveled from the sky to Sandman. His eyebrows were raised, he looked shocked. "You, um... Do you wanna go on a date sometime?" Kobra whispered like only they could know.

Mr. Sandman never felt better. "Yeah. If that's okay with you of course." He said hastily.

"Why do ya think I asked you?" Kobra grinned. 

“This is sort of like a first date.”

“You brought me home unconscious.”

“With your well-being in mind.” He scoffed quietly.

“Thanks for that, Sandman.” Kobra murmured, grabbing his hand.

-

Party Poison pulled up a circle of similar houses, most surprisingly intact. They immediately recognized Kobra’s bike, 27, in the back of a beat-up pick up truck. They parked on the street and strolled up the door, knocking twice, almost a third time, but the door swung open.

A short man wearing all yellow with an annoyed frown on his face greeted them. “Dr. B.”

“PP.”

“Fuck you.”

“And you as well.” He snorted. 

“Where’s my brother?”

"Kobra Kid is with Sandman. Only the Witch knows where that is."

"I thought he said he was here?"  _ I hope I didn’t drive out here for nothing! _

"He is. But where here is uncertain." He opened the door for them to enter. _ Cryptic. _

-

Kobra watched the Trans Am pull up and sighed. "My ride’s here." He whispered to Sandman whose head was resting on Kobra's chest.

"You don't have to leave. We could just lay here forever." Sandman never seemed so at peace.

"Pois wouldn't like that. They'd drag us both down there if you told them that."

"They care. I could tell when they were talkin' on the radio."

“I know, we’re both jackasses.” He grumbled, shifting Sandman so he could sit up.

"Just ten more minutes." He whispered.

"I dunno. They don’t take no for an answer."

"Benzie'll want ‘em gone quick. Dunno why he just doesn't like Party Poison, never has."

"S'okay. They’re a little intimidating."

"Yeah." They sat for a moment. Kobra could hear Party calling for them, alongside Benzedrine's irritated voice.

"Better go." He smiled.

"Before you go, do you want to meet again? Same alley at the Crash Track?" Sandman asked.

“What exactly are we?”

“Dating, I guess.”

Kobra paused, he settled on, “Boyfriends.” 

"Couldn't leave my boyfriend hangin'? I'll be there, two days from now." He whispered before kissing him. He could tell Sandman wasn’t expecting it, but once he realized what was happening, he melted into it. He liked the way Sandman kissed him. It was like it was both their first kisses. They didn't want to screw it up with each other.

"Let’s go." They climbed down the attic ladder and circled the house until he spotted Poison. 

-

Party turned when they heard footsteps. Their eyes lit up when they saw Kobra Kid approaching. They pulled him into a hug, not Kobra’s favorite thing, but he’d have to put up with clingy Poison for a few hours.

"Sorry for being such an idiot." They mumbled into Kobra's shoulder. "I was already on edge. I dunno why I was mad, to begin with."

"It's okay, I'm sorry too."

“Don’t you apologize. I snapped at you for no reason, and that wasn’t fair.” They murmured. “Asshole,” They added lovingly.

“Motherfucker,” Kobra smiled into their shoulder. 

“Guess we’re even. Don’t go passing out again, though.” They glared at Kobra.

“Oh yeah,” He rubbed the back of his head, “What about my bike?” He asked.

“Uh, It won’t fit in the trunk. I’m not letting you drive it home.”

“Sandman, could you bring my bike to the track in like two days,” Kobra asked.  _ Why would he trust a stranger with his bike? Kobra doesn’t let anybody touch his bike? _

“Sure.” The Suiteheart smiled.

-

Mr. Sandman stood awkwardly behind Kobra and Poison. His hand felt cold where Kobra's had been intertwined. Dr. Benzedrine walked up from behind him.

"Finally, he's here. We have you two been?" He asked.

"Just talking." He whispered.

"We're gonna go. Bye." Party Poison said hastily. Kobra waved at Sandman from the passenger side of the Trans Am before Poison started it.

"There he goes." He gazed fondly after them. Suddenly he was aware of how cold it was, and how tired he was.

“You should go to bed. Tomorrow you should get that food you were supposed to get today.” Benzedrine grumbled.

“I’ll get it, aren’t you impatient. Had bigger things to do today.” He laughed.

-

The Trans Am was cold. Kobra had a blanket thrown over his lap while he sat in the passenger seat. Poison was driving, every so often glancing at Kobra. They were absentmindedly humming along to the radio.

“Why’d you pass out?” They asked suddenly.

Kobra looked at them. “Uh, I dunno… Dr. Benzedrine said I didn’t eat enough.”

“Kobes! You gotta eat!” Poison exclaimed.

“I did, a little bit. Got distracted.” He mumbled, his eyes were drooping.

“What else are you missing?” Party said softly.

“Uh, sleep? M’kinda thirsty.”

“Jesus,” They let out an exasperated sigh. “Take a nap. It’ll be maybe an hour before we’re home.” Party murmured. 

“Okay, but the sky’s so pretty,” Kobra whispered before dozing off. The first real sleep he’d had in days, besides passing out.

-

Party Poison was relieved to find Kobra, not so much to find him at the Suitehearts, or nutrient and sleep-deprived. Once they arrived at the diner, they carried Kobra, who was out cold, bridal style to his bed. 

A lot of Kobra’s stuff was still at Cherri Cola’s, but that was a task for another day. Party just laid next to their brother, humming the chorus of a song they’d heard on the radio. Everything was fine now. Kobra Kid was home, Party and him were content.

-

Kobra woke up, the room was dark, he was sweating. Kobra didn’t sweat when he slept. Kobra hardly ever got hot enough to sweat. He blinked. He was still wearing his jacket and jeans, that’s why he was so hot.

He shifted to face the ceiling but found something beside him was prohibiting the motion. A soft grunt sounded from the thing. Kobra rolled to face it. Party Poison. Their hair was messily draped across their face, and they were also still wearing their jacket, jeans, and boots.

Kobra sat up and stretched, fuck everything was sore from his sleeping position. Slowly he stood up and started looking for fresher clothes. A baggy t-shirt that made him look skinnier than he was, it’ll have to do. Sweats or shorts? Neither sounded great, but he had nothing else. Shorts, fuck he was pale.

Jet Star was already awake when he emerged from his room. “Kobra!” He shouted before hugging him. “Where have you been?”

“Cherri’s.” He said. “Need to go back, get my clothes.”

“We’ll get ‘em later. Have you seen Pois? They left last night and got back with you, but haven’t seen ‘em since.”

“In there.” He pointed over his shoulder, inside his room. “Hey, I wanna apologize about four? Five? Days ago. Sorry I snapped.”

“No, my fault,” Kobra mumbled, he felt like he was forgetting something. 

“We’re all on edge, Girlie’s been upset she can’t see Uncle Kobra.”

“Who’s the parent?” Kobra scoffed.

“Fuck if I know.” Jet smiled.

“Where is she?” Kobra wanted to see her bubbly little face again.

“Sleeping, Ghoul’s been trying to make a crib or something for her to sleep in. I think it looks more like a rabbit trap to me.” Jet huffed.

“I’ll see her when she’s up. Got any good food?” He asked, opening the cupboard behind Jet.

“Nothing great, Tommy had some decent cereal. Taste that, it’s great.” Kobra opened the box and poured about a handful into a glass, no bowls. “So, what’ve you been up to since, five days ago?”

“Uh, racing. Won a bunch of carbons. Could probably get a bit more of this cereal.” He mumbled with his mouth full. “Oh, I uh passed out at the Crash Track.” He blushed in embarrassment. 

“What!? Is that why Cherri called? He said you weren’t at the track!” Jet almost shouted, held back, trying to enjoy the moments of silence before the Girl woke up again.

“I was with Mr. Sandman. Guy’s a really good racer. We were talking after the last race and I just kinda dropped. So he took me to Suitehearts.” Kobra shrugged.

“Destroya Kobra, you scared the shit out of us! Cherri calls saying he can’t find you, and then Dr. D’s on the radio askin’ to call in if we’ve seen ya!”

“Sorry.”  _ Here I go again, trying to de-escalate something, but probably making it worse. _

“Kobra Kid, I swear, sometimes you’re like a second Ghoul.” He sighed.

-

Mr. Sandman stood in the alley he met Kobra in, for the second time. He hadn’t raced yet that day, but it was a good day to go. Maybe he could get Kobra to race him. He tapped his foot impatiently. He radioed Party Poison an hour ago, supposedly just trying to give Kobra his bike back, and Kobra should be on his way.

He glanced across the sea of ‘joys talking around their bikes, waiting for their race, or cheering on another motorbaby. He spotted the Trans Am pull up into what was probably a parking lot, Kobra stepped out, said something to the driver and slammed the door.

Kobra Kid approached the alley as the Trans Am pulled away. “Hey, Sandman!” He smiled.

“Hi.” He was grinning. “You’re bike’s in the truck, same as mine. I was wondering if you’d like to race me, don’t care where. I wanna see how good you are one on one.” 

Kobra’s eyes lit up. “Well, you better get used to the taste of my dust, because I’m leaving you behind.”

“We’ll see Kobra.” Sandman laughed.


End file.
